Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Four Lok Sabha MPs are selected for the Sansad Ratna 2015 Awards for
outstanding performance in the 16th Lok Sabha till the end of the
budget session.

“The MPs were selected through a
rigorous process by a high powered Committee of Judges. Prime Point Foundation,
a Chennai based NGO, has been honouring
top performing Lok Sabha Members every year since 2009” said the Foundation’s Chairman K Srinivasan.

They were toppers each under the
category of Questions, Private Members Bills and Debates. They will also
be inducted into ‘Sansad Ratna – Hall of Fame’ during the Award ceremony on 11th
July 2015..

The Committee of Judges selected the
MPs for this year’s award based on their performance in the House,
attendance in the House and Standing Committees and utilization of MPLad funds.
The selection was based on an evaluation of the data provided by PRS India an
Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Under the General category, three
‘Sansad Ratna Awards 2015’ are given to the toppers in three categories, viz.
debates, private members bills and questions.

One topper among the First time
MPs for the cumulative overall tally gets the ‘Sansad Navodit Ratna 2015’
Award.

P P Chaudhary (BJP MP from Rajasthan)
bags two awards, one for being the
topper in ‘Debates category’ and another for overall tally among the First time
MPs. He participated in 176 Debates and secured a total tally of 384
points. He is also the topper among all the MPs in the Lok Sabha for
overall tally.

Shri Shrirang Appa Barne (Shiv Sena
MP from Maharashtra) bags an Award by topping under ‘Questions Category’ with
314 Questions to his credit with a total tally of 355 points. He secured the No
2 position among all MPs in the overall tally.

Shri Nishikant Dubey (BJP MP from
Jharkhand) bags the Award for being a topper in the Private Members Bills
category. He introduced 11 Private Members bills and secured an overall
tally of 328 points. He secured the No 3 position among all MPs in the overall
tally.

Under the Women’s Category, ‘Sansad Mahila Ratna Award 2015’ has
been bagged by Ms Supriya Sule (NCP MP from Maharashtra). She topped
among women MPs securing an overall cumulative tally of 321 points. She secured
the 5th position among all MPs in the Lok Sabha for overall
tally, besides being No 1 among women MPs.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

16th Lok Sabha completed its Budget Session 2015 (4th Session from the beginning) on 13th May 2015. From the beginning till the end of Budget Session 2015 (1st June 2014 to 13th May 2015), Lok Sabha had 90 sittings. Tamil Nadu had elected 39 MPs to Lok Sabha. One MP is a Minister of State. We analyse the Top 3 and Bottom 3 performance of Tamil Nadu MPs.

Right from the first session, Shri T G Venkatesh Babu and Dr Venugopal maintain their top two position consistently. At the end of third session of Lok Sabha, Shri P Nagarajan (Coimbatore) was in third position. Now at the end of 4th Session, Shri Parasuraman (Thanjavur) has moved to 3rd position, pushing Shri Nagarajan to 6th position.

Standing Committees of the Parliament are highly important. Every MP is allotted two or three committees, so that they can participate effectively in the Committee Meetings and add value. The Government provides to each MP a sum of Rs.5 crores as MPLad fund every year for development of their constituency. Effective utilisation of MPLad funds is also important. From this session on wards, we will include the parameters like (a) participation in debates, (b) introduction of private bills, (c) raising questions, (d) attendance in the Lok Sabha, (e) attendance in the Standing Committee Meetings and (f) Utilisation of MPLad Funds for our analysis.

The Government has not updated the utilisation of MPLad funds. Hence for this analysis, we have not taken this into account. Being the first year, some of the Committee Meetings are also not updated. We have taken into account the data relating to other available Standing Committees.

Shri T G Venkatesh Babu: AIADMK MP from Chennai North. He has participated in 23 debates and raised 238 Questions, with a total tally of 261 points. Though he was hospitalised during the third session for some health problem, he has secured 97% attendance

He is a Member of 2 Standing Committees (viz. Finance Committee and Joint Parliamentary Committee on Office of Profit). Out of 28 meetings held by these Committees, he has attended 13 meetings.

At the National level, he has scored 24th rank for the total tally. He has all the potentiality to enter into Top 5 of the entire Lok Sabha, if he fine tunes and plans properly.

Though he is the first time MP he continues to maintain the lead among the Tamil Nadu MPs. Congratulations Mr Venkatesh Babu.

Dr Ponnuswamy Venugopal: AIADMK MP from Thiruvallur. He has participated in 32 debates and raised 209 Questions, with a total tally of 241 points. He has scored 92% attendance in the Lok Sabha.

He is a Member of 5 Standing Committees. (viz. Business Advisory Committee, General Purposes Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Rural Development and Welfare of SCs and STs). He is the Chairman of Rural Development Committee. Attendance data is available only for two committees. Out of 27 meetings, he has attended 23 meetings.

MPLad fund data is not available.

Dr Venguopal is also the Chairman of AIADMK Parliamentary Board. In spite of his other floor management duties, he has participated effectively in the Lok Sabha till the end of Budget Session 2015.

At National level, he ranks 34. Being the experienced second time MP, he has high potentiality to enter into the TOP 5 performers of the entire Lok Sabha.

Congratulations to Dr Venugopal.

Shri K Parasuraman: AIADMK MP from Thanjavur. At the end of Third Session, he was at 4th position in Tamil Nadu. Now he has moved to 3rd position. He is the first time MP.

Till the end of 4th Session, he has participated in 33 debates and raised 165 question, with a total tally of 198 points. He has attended 83% of the sittings of the Lok Sabha.

He is the Member of Standing Committee on Urban Development. He has attended 4 meetings out of 10 held.

Data relating to MPLad fund is not available.

BOTTOM 3 MPs

While, we know about the Top performers of Tamil Nadu, we should also know about the MPs who rank bottom. In the 15th Lok Sabha, the MPs from Tirunelveli, Salem and Dharmapuri used to always capture the 'Top 3' slot among the Tamil Nadu MPs. But during the 16th Lok Sabha, ironically, the MPs from these constituencies, capture the 'Bottom 3' slot among the Tamil Nadu MPs.

Shri KPP Prabakaran: AIADMK MP from Tirunelveli. He has participated in 5 debates and raised 5 Questions with a total tally of 10. He has secured 100% attendance in the House.

He is not a Member of any Standing Committee. MPLad fund data not available.

Among the Tamil Nadu MPs, he ranks 38 (Out of 39 MPs, one MP is a Minister).

Shri V Paneerselvam: AIADMK MP from Salem. He has participated in 12 Debates and has not raised any Questions or introduced any Private Members Bills. His total tally is 12. His attendance in the Lok Sabha is 94%.

He is a Member of Subordinate Legislation committee. Out of 9 Committee Meetings, he has attended 2 meetings.

MPLad fund utilisation data not available.

Among the Tamil Nadu MPs, he ranks 37.

Dr Anbumani Ramadoss: PMK MP from Dhamapuri. He is also the declared Chief Minister Candidate for 2016 Assembly Elections.

He has participated in 7 Debates and raised 7 Questions, with a total tally of 14 points. He has attended only 53% of the sittings of the Lok Sabha.

He is a Member of 2 Committees, viz. Absence of Members from the House and Rural Development. The attendance data relating to first committee is not available. Out of 21 meetings held by Rural Development Committee, he has attended 2 meetings.

MPLad fund data not available.

Among the Tamil Nadu MPs, he ranks 36.

About overall performance of Tamil Nadu MPs

Out of 38 MPs (one Minister excluded), 12 MPs have scored 100% attendance in Lok Sabha. While the National Average for participation in debates is 17.8, Tamil Nadu MPs have secured 16.9, lower than National Average. While the National Average for raising Questions is 69, Tamil Nadu has scored 78, marginally more than the national average.

While the national average for attendance is 85%, Tamil Nadu has scored 94%.

Since many of the MPs are first time MPs, they should be given training in effective participation.

About this Award

Prime Point Foundation has been honouring the top performing Members of Parliament based on their performance in the House. (Questions raised, debates participated, issues raised, private bills introduced and attendance),

From 2012, the Foundation has named this award as 'Sansad Ratna Award'.